OK, fair enough. I agree it has been one-sided and England are deservedly 3-0 down but on each of the Day 1's they've had the Aussies in a bit of bother to say the least. Probably not enough to affect the result, considering how well the Aussies have bowled (and how poorly some of our batsmen have played), but you do wonder at times "what if"

marc71178 - President and founding member of AAAS - we don't only appreciate when he does well, but also when he's not quite so good!

Perth Third Test
Hussey 74*
Panesar 5/92
Peiterson 70
Then we witnessed the best and quickest 100 in Ashes history by Gilchrist anyone that say it was blown away. First 50 off 40 balls then got to 100 off just 57 balls. It WAS AMAZING
Clarke 135* overshadowed by Gilchrist century
Cook 115

Melbourne Fourth Test
Warne 5/39 rolled England and they had NO answer
Symonds 156
Lee 4/47 finished them off in 3 days with Warne being brilliant

SA in England last year. It was not a whitewash but Sa never looked like loosing any game but it was highly entertaining cricket. Amla 300 first game then Bell looked like saving the test until Steyn blew they away with the 2nd new ball. KP onslaught on Steyn second test. The third test again had Sa on top thorughout England's lower order at the end did entertain a fleeting thought of upset but then Sa still prevailed comfortably enough. There was off field drama as well with KP and his team mates.

SA in England last year. It was not a whitewash but Sa never looked like loosing any game but it was highly entertaining cricket. Amla 300 first game then Bell looked like saving the test until Steyn blew they away with the 2nd new ball. KP onslaught on Steyn second test. The third test again had Sa on top thorughout England's lower order at the end did entertain a fleeting thought of upset but then Sa still prevailed comfortably enough. There was off field drama as well with KP and his team mates.

That's just a series where a team is better. Not really a series where a team is ****ing up the other team.

Been thinking this too. Amazing series so far, Johnson's inspired spells have lit the series, and the sport in this country, right up, and it has been thrilling no matter what side you're on it seems. I haven't seen such well executed short pitched stuff ever really. The return of a bit of aggression has made for striking cricket too, but more importantly the energy. Boof's brand of cricket is exciting, he seems to want a moving game at all costs. That has been key imo. There hasn't been any meandering. Good way to play, will bring people through the gates and capture the interest of youngsters.

'And if anyone had been pondering over how a team that had lost seven of its previous nine Tests, had one batsman averaging over 37 in Tests (compared to six in the opposition ranks), and was gambling on the recall of a strike bowler who had taken 30 wickets at 42 in his previous 11 matches over three years, could rampantly cauterise an opponent against whom it had won two Tests out of the previous 15, then ponder no longer.'
Courtesy Andy Zaltzman from Cricinfo.

Those stats are all fairly misleading though. Losing seven of the previous nine was due to the opposition/location rather than the general ****ness of the Australan team. They would still realistically have beaten most teams fairly comfortably, just not India and England away from home (or SA). The low career averages are mostly related to brief test careers, since for instance I doubt too many people would have thought Rogers and Smith looked like sub-37 career average players (though Rogers could easily end up that way). And the series in England was fairly evenly contested for a 3-0 result: only Lords was one-sided, England never scored over 400 once, had only one batsman averaging over 40 for the series, and Australia had the first innings lead in four out of five tests.

Switch the home field advantage and add a bit of experience to the Australian team and I think the signs were there that it was going to be a close series. The real shock is the sheer one-sidedness. and Johnson. My memory of the 05/06 series was that up until Perth most people still thought England had a really good chance to win the series. Brisbane was a thrashing but England basically dominated the Adelaide test until the fourth day and should certainly never have lost it, and even bowled Australia out cheaply in Perth. By comparison this series has just felt non-competitive, mostly because of the abysmal batting performance.